Poached pears in honey and Spices syrup

This poached pear recipe is perfect dessert option. Golden pears in maple coloured syrup is a light elegant, delicious dessert. Cooling the pears in the poaching liquid prevents their discolouration. They feel fancy on the party plate and can be cooked ahead of time and hold perfectly in the fridge.

The fruit and syrup goes well over pudding or in a tart or spooned over oatmeal for breakfast.

Serve this as part of 3 course mexican meal along with Sweetcorn fritters (recipe link) and Soya bean Enchilladas (recipe link)

Serves: 4-5Preparation time: 5 minutesCooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Pears-4-5

Lemon juice-3-4tbsp +for brushing pears

Honey/maple syrup-3/4-1cup

Cinnamon stick-1

Cloves-3-4

Star anise-1

Saffron- a big pinch

Procedure:

To start with peel and core the pears, rubbing the flesh with a little lemon juice to prevent from browning.

Soak the saffron in warm water and keep aside.

Now in a medium pan combine 2-3cups of water, honey/maple syrup, lemon juice, cloves, cinnamon, star anise and bring gently to boil for about-5-8minutes on a medium-high flame.

Reduce the heat to low and add in pears to the saucepan and cover the lid bring to boil and simmer for 20-25minutes or until the pear is tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.

Remove from the flame and let the pears cool a bit and then transfer the pears to a bowl using a slotted spoon.

Strain the syrup into a jug and stir in the soaked saffron over the pear. Cover and refrigerate for some time-flipping once so that it evenly dips in the syrup.

Serving suggestion:

Place pear on a serving plate, drizzle over a little syrup and serve with dallop of icecream/ pipe some whipped cream and enjoy.

As a dessert part of 3 course mexican meal

Note:

Water quantity depends on the length and size of the pear.

The sweet can be personalised as my family loves mild sweet so I just used honey and not brown sugar so it can be altered as per the sweet tooth.